the dublin interchange coming up. and right now we'll bring you this, a live shot from the 101 in san rafael. you see traffic out there, the lights gleaming in all that rain coming down. full reports on the entire bay area coming your way with flooding risks, storms moving through. it is friday, november 30th. this is "today in the bay." it is 5:00, good morning, everybody. thank you very much for joining us, i'm jon kelley. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. breaking news we are following in the south bay. a search for a burglary suspect in an upscale monte sereno neighborhood. bob redell is live with the very latest for us. bob. >> reporter: well, good morning to you, laura. we've been in touch with the mon monte mo

monte sereno and los gatos police department. we're in monte sereno. this is in the south bay. this is a community with a lot of large homes. it's very tight, windy roads and we're at the bottom of one of the roads. you can see campbell police are helping out the monte sereno police department and they have blocked off the road. up that road is where this investigation is going on. what little we know so far is that just before 2:00, around 1:50, there was a possible home invasion robbery. that's all we have right now because we're waiting for this public information officer to get in here. but the fact that monte sereno los gatos police have called in campbell police indicates this is a crime that is requiring a lot of their resources, so much so that they had to call for outside help. so again we're here at the bottom of the road where up the street we believe it's a very large house is the crime scene where police are right now conducting their investigation.

reporting live here in monte sereno, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> we hope to hear more throughout the morning. also keeping an eye on our developing weather. storm watch continues as we take a live look outside. golden gate bridge not a lot of traffic to report, but slick roadways out there. you know the second of three big rain storms dragging slowly across the bay area this morning. a live look at the san mateo bridge. we certainly have you covered from all angles this morning. christie smith and marla tellez outside monitoring road conditions near local rivers, mike inouye checking our local commute but let's start out with christina loren. what's happening right now? >> we're just getting slammed right now. some of the heaviest rainfall we've had in two years on the way to the bay area. this is only the second round of heavy rain. we have another one to get to over the course of the weekend. the camera shakes from time to time, we have some gusty winds picking up. we want to take it live to the radar because that tells the story of the day. look at all the rainfall coming down up and down the bay area.

we have heavy pockets, thunderstorms and already reports of downed trees and mud slides in the area. look at the east bay just getting slammed with heavy to moderate rain from fairfield all the way down through oakland and san francisco. we're planning on flight delays this morning in addition to one of the roughest drives that we've had in a while. now, it is friday, so it could be friday light. nonetheless, give yourself plenty of time to reach your destination safely because it's only going to get worse before it gets better. we stop the clock at 6:00 a.m. that's when the heaviest rain arrives in the south bay. you're going to get a little bit of a break up in the north bay but heavy rain, flooding reports. we have a flash flood warning in place for the north bay, the santa cruz mountains and the coast. we'll keep you updated minute by minute as these strong storms develop. we have a very, very serious day to get through so i want to make sure everybody is ready for that. back to you, jon. >> we'll check back with her throughout the day. right now let's head out to the

north bay where people are keeping a very close eye on rivers and creeks for some potential flooding. christie smith is live on the phone from san anselmo this morning. christie, the first question is what does it look like where you are? >> reporter: i'm sitting in the van right now and i can barely see out of the front windshield. steady rain since we got here. we're looking at some of the shops downtown and i can tell you that they have got sandbags in the doorways stacked up about two feet high. they have got their flood gates up. they have been through this before so they may know better than most how to handle it. behind the stores is where the creek is. it's moving but well below flood stage but that's the one everyone watches here. wanted to mention on my way here we had to cross the richmond-san rafael bridge. that is completely dark this morning. the chp is telling me it's been in a blackout since about 3:00 this morning. the power is out. they don't know when it will go back on so they're urging drivers to keep your headlights on, be safe and drive a little

slower than normal. also in petaluma, the petaluma river, people all over watching rivers rise. many people getting their sandbags and preparing for the worst. >> over 150 sandbags are ready, but it's not quite enough to totally seal off the building so we've got to get 50 more. it's a last-minute run. looks like we lost the connection to christie there, but we'll continue to monitor what's happening all morning long. in fact our coverage continues with marla tellez now checking the freeway conditions on the peninsula. coming down out there, isn't it, marla? >> reporter: yes, the rain has arrived most definitely. good morning to you, laura. we are standing at the popular university avenue exit in palo alto. the headlights that you see behind me, they are heading northbound 101 and, yes, the

rain, it is wet, it is slick out here. i shot some cell phone video to give you an idea of what you might be in store for. it may be a little bit hard to tell because it is cell phone video, but you can see, yes, the roads are wet and slick. puddling is happening on highway 101. in fact roadways all over the bay area. keep that in mind. also hydroplaning is a very real possibility today as you get ready to hit your morning commute. i spoke to meteorologist christina loren and she tells me for the peninsula specifically, the rain is going to come down the hardest between 7:00 and 9:00 this morning. of course that is primetime morning commute. so, yes, just be a defensive driver as you head out the door this morning. another thing to keep in mind, for the peninsula, pg&e says 4900 people are currently without power. they are working to restore power, though they are not able to give us an estimated time that that power will be restored. again, 4900 people without power on the peninsula. bottom line, i spoke to the

national weather service and the gentleman on the phone said when it comes to the bay area, the morning commute, and i quote, is going to be a mess. that's the latest from here. i'm marla tellez, "today in the bay." >> thanks so much, marla. try to stay dry out there. she mentioned the wild weather has left thousands of people in the dark this morning. right now the north bay seems to be the hardest-hit area. the storm knocked out power to over 9,000 people. trouble on the peninsula, nearly 5,000 customers without power. meantime in the south bay, more than 4,000 people without power, about 4300, a little over that. pg&e not yet has said what time things expect to get back on line, but be prepared because your own power could go out this morning, so do what you can. >> as that storm continues to roll in, pg&e probably bracing for a lot more outages. 5:08. let's check back in with meteorologist christina loren who has her eyes on the sky. what's happening? >> well, guys, it is really bad out there. i don't know about your drive to

work, but mine was dangerous and that was when this was just starting to get heavier. what i can tell you is the earlier you leave for work, the slower you take it, the better off you'll be. the morning rush hour kicks off saech at 7:00 a.m. when the storm will potentially be at its worst. the heaviest rain is located over the peninsula. san jose also getting hit pretty hard and the east bay in addition to that. watch out for thunderstorms. some of the thunderstorms could produce small hail. we're also expecting lightning and the latest word from the santa cruz mountains is torrential downpours, so we'll be watching all those storm reports as they come into this newsroom and show you this live as it develops throughout the morning. let's take a look at your drive. good morning, mike. >> good morning. this is our live look 101 at palo alto. marla just talked about -- christina just talked about all the rain coming down the peninsula. marla is right there at university avenue.

you can see the headlights are glowing in all of that mist getting kicked up and bouncing off of the roadway. very slick, wet conditions. the map will show you the peninsula we have colored in green is where wet roads are. at the top of your screen is just past 92 and farther south northbound 101 at whipple, reports there. there's no slowing past either scene but both have a lot of lights. mark from cnbc just called in and said using his headset that there's a lot of flashing lights. no slowing, but a big distraction there. over in the east bay we have a tri-valley jam at the dublin interchange. west 580 gets worse. you're hitting the brakes all the way to the dublin interchange where there's a big rig blocking all of the lanes for 580. folks are squeezing by on that off-ramp for 680 and getting back on to 580. we talked to an officer earlier and he says from the chp that they expect this to be cleared by about another half an hour but we'll keep tabs on this.

the blue shows you where there is ponding and puddling, really becoming prevalent through concord and walnut creek. we'll get a live look at the bay bridge and bend this shot at the bay bridge itself looking at all the puddling and water kicking up. be very careful crossing the bay because of gusty winds as well. back to you. >> of course our storm watch continues in just moments, but right now you can get the latest on nbcbayarea.com. you can also send us your weather pictures. e-mail them to newstips@nbcbay airarea.com. the stock market could be facing a bit of a storm of its own, on edge as congress continues to haggle over that fiscal cliff. plus california's controversial prop 8 could have its day in the supreme court. the decision being made by the nation's highest court today.

good friday morning to you. good wet friday morning to you. taking a live look outside this morning. this is up in emeryville this morning. you see a little bit of traffic picking up, but so are the rain showers. be careful as you head out the door. take a look at our doppler radar this morning. that rain just pounding its way through the bay area today. christina loren will be back in just a few moments to tell us when it will exactly hit your neighborhood, which is very helpful. >> a little bit rough outside. also rough on wall street on shaky footing right now as investors hear the news the fiscal cliff right now, the negotiations on capitol hill, appear to be at a stand still right now. >> for the check of the futures and how they're looking this morning, we turn to bertha coombs, she's live at cnbc world headquarters. good morning, bertha. >> reporter: good morning, jon and laura. it seems as though investors are

basically trading on every bit of body language and tone, not to mention the words that come out of washington. we had a pretty choppy session on thursday. markets rose and fell on comments coming from democrats and republicans about the lack of progress on budget talks on capitol hill. lawmakers are edging ever closer to that year-end fiscal cliff. today we'll get data on personal incomes and spending and manufacturing. the dow ended the day up 36 points to 13,021. the nasdaq up 20 to 3012. with one day left to go in november, the nasdaq and the s&p 500 are in the black for the month, but the dow is still in the red. president obama today heads to pennsylvania to tour a toy factory outside philadelphia as he continues to push republicans to let the bush aera tax cuts expire for people who make more than $250,000 a year. tim geithner made the president's case yesterday meeting with the four congressional leaders on capitol hill. reports say the president's

first salvo calls for tax increases, $50 billion in the infrastructure spending and the power to raise the debt ceiling without congressional approval. as you can imagine, guys, congress did not take very well to that, particularly on the republican side. but 31 days and counting here. >> here we go. >> the countdown is on. a lot of salty people on capitol hill. see if they can get this worked out before christmas. >> what a gift that would be. an umbrella would be a good gift to have received earlier this year. >> even if you hold on to that umbrella tight you're probably still going to get hit by heavy rain as we've got winds whipping around the bay area. we're getting into the worst part of the morning strong. tuesday we had a break and wednesday we got slammed, same thing today. in fact we're getting slammed even harder because our ground is already saturated from the first heavy rain that came through. you see that live picture, cars

pi kicking up the puddles. get ready for a very rough commute. if you can leave now you'll be better off because there's less commuters but whenever you leave, travel very cautiously. look at what's on the radar this morning. you'll see the green and yellow, the light to moderate rain, but there's also very heavy batches of rainfall from pittsburg all the way south to concord. you've got the high pinks and reds coming in. that's a thunderstorm cell and these can be very dangerous because within those thunderstorm cells you get very heavy rain rates, 2 inches per hour, and that just creates really dangerous driving conditions in combination with gusty winds. as we head throughout the day today, we're expecting to see more and more of these showers develop and then we'll get a little bit of a break between 12:00 and 2:00. this is what you're driving to work through. santa cruz mountains just getting pounded. and the ground there is already saturated. now that the wind is expected to pick up, we are expecting more downed trees, more downed branches and that could create more power outages. also expecting flight delays out of sfo this morning, oakland and

likely to see those flight delays out of san jose as well. this is one of those storm systems you don't want to mess with. at 7:00 a.m. the storm looks like it will be at its worst. the north bay was hammered just about all night long. it's starting to lighten up a little bit there. from oakland all the way south to san jose, a pocket of heavy rainfall on the way and then we'll start to clear out a little bit. as we meet back here at 11:00 a.m. for our midday broadcast, we're still going to be talking about heavy downpours at that point down to the south bay and we'll have your storm reports. aftermath certainly will be a big deal on this one. so i'll time the next system out for you and let you know when you can get outdoors because you will have opportunities to do so but it's going to be a soggy bay area as we head through the next few days. let's take a look at your drive with mike. >> here we are on the roadways in san jose. this is the drive. 101 north, look at all that

ponding, the puddling, the water kicking up. slick conditions on the roadways. the maps show you the same area just north of 680. not so bad as far as the speeds go. here north 87, another accident. the type i'm looking for, spinouts. this is a single car spinout, north 87 at taylor. the car hit the center divide. spinouts are every common because of the slick conditions and tougher visibility, so be very careful out there, drive defensively. so far we have a smoother drive. green highlighted all over my maps. aside from the roadways means that it's wet conditions. peninsula we have the accident still there whipple northbound with some slowing approaching the scene. however, there's a lot of flashing lights but light traffic so you should be okay until you get up towards third. flooding headed into san mateo as well. a live look at san rafael, we see the southbound side as things are picking up, wet roads here. flooding reported in the north bay. watch forestville as well as

highway 29. looking over towards emeryville, we're looking at the maze here. this is westbound 80 your commute. there's the berkeley commute, so traffic still relatively smoh toward the toll plaza with no real backup yet. but the camera shakes. here's 880, 580 and interstate 80. this will get very congested. there's a sig alert that continues the westbound commute direction blocked for another half hour until they hopefully can clear that big rig. look at the backup. it's very slow all the way in through livermore because only the exit lane is your alternate around the scene unless you make that cut through livermore. highway 84 will get tough as well as isabel and stanley at least for the next half hour. >> thank you very much, mike. it is 5:20. the u.s. supreme court is expected to take up the issue of same-sex marriage today. the nine justices are scheduled to meet behind closed doors to decide if they will take a

series of cases. one of them is the federal defense of marriage act. the other is proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage in california. although the supreme court is expected to hear the cases, the justices could delay discussing them until march. given that gay marriage is now legal in nine states and the district of columbia, experts expect the justices to make a decision today. it is 5:20 right now. we'll have more on your weekend weather coming up next. >> to me it sucks, yeah. i don't know what else to say. >> plus 49ers quarterback alex smith opening up about his coach giving the starting job to colin kaepernick. and right now we take you back outside, a live look over palo alto as traffic doesn't look too bad but that weather continues to shower all over the bay area. we've got you covered on all angles. we're back in a matter of minutes. 5:21.

welcome back, everyone. taking a live look outside. the camera sweeping over san francisco. cloudy, rainy, plus flooding in some areas in the north bay this morning. keeping tabs on all of it for you across the bay area for your morning commute. it's 5:23. for the first time since being benched by head coach jim harbaugh, 49ers quarterback alex smith, who is now the backup, is speaking out. >> i mean it sucks. just because of the fact -- you sacrifice and invest so much time. like i said, i really feel like, you know, i hadn't done anything besides get a concussion to really kind of -- you know, to facilitate this and i feel like i'm playing good football. >> yeah, he was. the week before suffering that concussion before the rams earlier this month, smith completed 18 out of 19 passes and three touchdowns against

arizona. when asked if he feels any resentiment towards harbaugh, smith said no and that harbaugh gets paid to make these kind of decisions. smith says he'll continue to do what he's doing on the field and will make the most of his next opportunity. >> kind of a double-edged sword there. very tough for smith, but for harbaugh, what a great position to be in, two quarterbacks playing at a very high level. 5:24 right now. speaking of not so hot, that weather just keeps on coming. christina is telling us about it. >> it is intense this morning and it's only going to get worse before it gets better. i want to make sure everybody is aware of what is on the radar before you head out that front door. you have a very rough drive, even in the south bay where typically we are sheltered from the heavier downpours. your radar is lit up like a christmas tree with heavy pockets extending from the east bay over the peninsula, getting ready to slam the bay bridge the next 15 minutes and it looks like it's picking up as well in the santa cruz mountains at this point. in addition to the heavy rainfall, we've got gusty winds on the way.

winds will be at their strongest. as we head throughout the next two hours, the winds really starting to pick up. look at some of the heavier batches of rain located over the east bay. we have heavy downpours coming down and an already saturated ground so a flash flood warning is already in place for parts of the north bay and look at what we're expecting. these winds will continue to increase and that means we are expecting more trees to topple. we set your futurecast in motion when it comes to winds. they will be at their strongest between 7:00 and 9:00 and that's when the damage reports will likely start to come in. it's one of those days you don't want to mess with taking any extra time at home. give all the extra time to your drive and take it easy, please. 5:26. we'll let you know how the storm progresses throughout the morning. >> hey, over my shoulder it's tough to see. let me take you full screen and get a better advantage of what my buddy, mark, has been able to show us. that is that dimly lit street lamp and you see how wet it is just south of pleasanton,

heading into sunol and fremont. let me show you the maps coming into the area off of the dublin interchange. you're okay for 680 but that is west 580 that is the problem. all that red, the slowing unusual, especially for a friday, because that big rig accident is still blocking all lanes of 580. you can still take the freeway but you'll use the off-ramp at 680 to get to any of your routes, north or southbound 680 or continuing into castro valley. hopefully have that cleaned up in the next 20 minutes but chp hasn't given us any update on the timing. looking over to the peninsula where we have very wet roads as well. this is 101 northbound heading towards whipple. hearing a lot of reports of soupy conditions. now a new report of flooding at the on-ramp by sfo in san bruno, guys. we'll sending it back to you with that warning. 5:27. still to come on "today in the bay" a manhunt under way in an upscale community in the south bay. we're live with the very latest details on a home invasion that

has police searching for a suspect. and right now we take you live outside as our storm watch continue. this is emeryville. you can see all the droplets on the screen as we speak. it is rough out there. we will be back with more storm coverage. 5:27.

>> yeah, you can see it right there, bob redell standing in the rain. probably can't hear because it's coming down so heavily out there this morning. in addition to the heavy rainfall, we've got gusty winds, also strong thunderstorms. we'll break it all down for you in your full forecast. and of course the wet roads, the flooding, the downed trees and the mud all an issue for your morning commute. i'll also bring you the latest on 580 those lanes are closed at the dublin interchange. and a live look outside san francisco's transamerica pyramid. you can barely make it out. it is dark, flash flooding, it's

a busy wet friday. this is "today in the bay." good morning, everybody. thank you very much for joining us. it is 5:30. i'll jon kelley. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> right now we are following breaking news in the south bay as all that rain continues to come down. detectives right now hard at work in monte sereno. a police perimeter is set up in the quiet, upscale neighborhood. that is where bob redell is live with the very latest. bob, what's happening out there, my man. >> reporter: well, good morning to you, jon. police have been keeping us away from this crime scene. it's several hundred yards up the road. you can see campbell police is assisting the monte sereno los gatos police department with this crime scene. it's our understanding it was a home invasion robbery that took place in a very rather large home, possibly a mansion, that's several hundred yards up the road. this happened just a little bit before 2:00 this morning.

just within the past ten minutes, you can't see it, but to the right in the dark a crime scene van or taylrailer just arrived with crime scene teches to go up and process the scene. one reason we believe they're keeping us out of there is it's very narrow and very windy. we presume they're keeping traffic to a minimum so investigators have easy access with their vehicles and such. we have been trying to get a public information officer from the los gatos monte sereno police department to speak with us. they keep telling us that the person is on the way. so again a possible home invasion robbery taking place just before 2:00 in what we believe is a mansion here in monte sereno reporting live, bob redell, "today in the bay." now a follow-up to breaking news we first brought you yesterday morning. police say an intruder who broke into a woman's apartment in palo

alto tried to rape her. this morning the search for the suspect continues. a woman says she woke up to a man standing over her bed early yesterday morning. the man pinned her wrists down of the investigators say the woman screamed and managed to fight the man off. he ran out the door. even more troubling, the attempted sexual assault happened in the same area where three women were groped in the past few months. >> i think i would be a lot more nervous and shaken up by this if i was somebody who was living on my own. that's really scary actually. >> no arrests have been made in any of the cases and investigators are looking into whether there is a connection. oakland police releasing more information today about the teenager who simply disappeared walking away from her group home on tuesday. 16-year-old cheyenne white, who has the mental capacity of a 9 to 12-year-old was found in san francisco late last night. her mother telling the "oakland tribune" the girl had been badly beaten. she walked away from a group home in oakland and was last

seen near the fruitvale b.a.r.t. station. police so far have not named any suspects. oakland police trying to find out why two teenage girls were killed in a hail of gunfire. candles and teddy bears mark the spot where the girls were killed. the 15-year-old and 16-year-old were best friends. police still trying to figure out why they were targeted. neighbors heard the gunshots early sunday morning and ran to their aid but they died at the scene. they say the killings are over the top, even for oakland. >> it's not safe for nobody, nobody. but when it comes to females getting killed, that's when you know people aingt got a heart out here. that's when you know there is no justice, there is no peace. >> at this time police have no suspects. >> tragic. all right, 5:34 right now. we continue our storm watch. developing weather here. christina loren very busy in that department. what's happening with us? >> it's coming down and we're getting into the worst part of the storm. let's start with this live

picture of san rafael where it has been raining all night long. you can see the camera breaks up from time to time because it's getting hit by strong winds. let's talk about the radar and you can see here the golden gate bridge also very slick and more heavy rain on the way. we should find out about flight delays the next half hour or 45 minutes. i want to show you your satellite radar just to show you where the heaviest rainfall is concentrated. we've got a heavy batch ready to slam the peninsula south of san mateo. also been tracking this very heavy batch of rainfall in the east bay this morning. as i widen out, you can see nobody getting spared. a little break up in the north bay but more heavy rain on the way in the next two hours. in fact the rain will be at its heaviest between now raand 9:00 a.m. not really clearing out until 1:00 p.m. or 2:00 p.m. when the lighter on and off showers will start. we do have very strong sustained winds, getting gusts to 40, 50

miles per hour from time to time. you could get caught by a very strong gust of wind as you commute to work so hold on to that steering wheel tightly and travel cautiously. i stop the clock on your futurecast to show you it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. the storm system, the brunt of it, located over the greater bay area from san jose all wait north to oakland, getting heavy rainfall at that time that. will continue until about 9:00 a.m. then you start to see the green, a little bit of a break from that storm. we might see the sky open up the second half of the day but we'll have to wait for that until 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. so you will be slammed by very heavy rain, reduced visibility and strong winds on your way to work this morning. make sure you're ready for that. 5:36. let's check on the drive. mike is working overtime this morning. >> you're literally working overtime but here's the deal. here's looking over at the bay bridge toll plaza. the rain is enough of a thing to deal w look, it's very dark in

that shaot. we do see the span is showing no lights across as far as the span goes. over on the right the reason i wanted to show this, only the construction over on the far right has the light for the road byes. the rest of the lights provided by the cards. now to the maps we're talking about that at the bay bridge and the approach getting a little more congested. the blue on my map shows where there's heavy ponding and puddling. 580 westbound at 680, the dublin interchange, we still have no updates from chp. they are trying to clean up and clear this big rig blocking all lanes of west 580. that's why it's backed up all the way towards that highway 84 cutoff, where folks are cutting through livermore and pleasanton. you can get by on just the off-ramp and then get back onto westbound 580 if you're

traveling through castro valley. another accident secondary again heading towards castro valley is what we're watching. the peninsula side also shows you soupy conditions as we're looking over to palo alto. our live camera shows you the wet roadways. the water kicking up doing the rooster tail action. and i will show you the south bay, which is also very wet. right now ourtorm watch continues. coming up in a few moments. right now you can get the latest on all that wet weather out there, just go to nbcbayarea.com. you can also send us your weather pictures by e-mailing them to newstips@nbcbayarea.com or post them on our facebook page. just search nbc bay area. 5:38 right now. as we tell you, it's rough out there. power outages, rain, flooding. >> we've got it all covered for you with christina keeping track of the radar and mike looking at the wet roads this morning. allow extra time before you head out the door. >> reporter: and good morning to

you. i'm marla tellez live in palo alto where i'm tracking the very wet morning commute through the peninsula on 101 coming up. [ male announcer ] this december, remember -- you can stay in and share something... ♪ ♪ ...or you can get out there with your friends and actually share something. ♪ the lexus december to remember sales event is on, offering some of our best values of the year. this is the pursuit of perfection.

we continue to track the storm that's lumbering through the bay area this morning. take a live look at the rain coming down. this is by the marina green up in san francisco this morning. expecting to have a live report from one of our weather channel reporters up there right now standing by in just moments. it's 5:40. on the international scene right now, this morning palestinians celebrating and the world is reacting to an overwhelming united nations vote. the u.n. upgrading palestine's status to nonmember observer state. danielle leigh is live on capitol hill right now and has more on this defeat for israel and the the united states. good morning, danielle. >> reporter: jon, good morning. the fear is that yesterday's vote is going to make palestine less likely to negotiate a peace agreement with israel moving forward. yesterday the united nations overwhelmingly voted to upgrade

their status to a nonmember state and that allows palestine to go after israel in international court, which could delay or complicate efforts at creating two independent states of palestine and israel. ambassador susan rice said she is disappointed by the vote. the u.s. had tried to prevent it by threatening funding in the west bank. rice said the only way to truly create an independent palestinian state is through direct talks with israel, something the u.s. is committed to helping make happen. even though this vote was largely symbolic, palestinians yesterday took to the streets. they were celebrating what they consider a victory and a step toward their independence. the real test is going to be what happens moving forward. do both sides come to the table and start talking about a peace agreement? it's something that both palestine and israel say they want to see. i'm danielle leigh. jon, back to you. >> thank you very much. closer to home, optimism over avoiding that looming fiscal cliff dwindling on capitol hill as lawmakers say they have made no real progress in two weeks.

now president obama taking his pitch out on the road talking directly to americans about tax increases and about spending cuts. later on this afternoon, he'll walk the assembly line of this manufacturing company just outside of philadelphia. its main product, k'nex. the toys there. the president says the middle class will not be able to support companies like this one without a deal to avoid that fiscal cliff. >> demand is going to go away because all of a sudden you're going to have two, three, $4,000 a year coming out of people's paychecks. >> just yesterday house speaker john boehner calling the massive tax increases and spending cuts scheduled for january 1st a real possibility, but many washington insiders say yes, a deal is still doable. keep hope alive. >> keep hope alive for a break in the rain this morning. it is coming down out there and flash flood warnings in effect. >> yeah, that's nothing to mess with. driving conditions right in the heart of when everybody is trying to get to work. we have heavy rain over parts of

the bay area. even though you may not have been awakened by the heavy raindrops on your house, well, we've got a lot of rain you'll have to drive to work through. as you can see, the brunt of the storm is now moving through. you can see the yellow concentrated over san jose. look at that deep red and hot pink. that's a thunderstorm cell we've been tracking for you just to the east of concord right now. san jose getting slammed with heavy pockets of rain. same for menlo park. as we progress through the morning we'll see more of this yellow and orange move onshore, which means your drive is only going to get slower and slower the longer you wait to leave. the winds are expected to pick up as well the next two hours and we're already relatively strong in fairfield, sustained at 20 miles per hour, gusting at 40 to 50 miles per hour from time to time. so that's strong enough to take down a high-profile vehicle on a slick roadway so you really want to take it easy if you drive a tractor-trailer, truck or suv. you can see here the heaviest rain comes through as we head through 7:00 a.m. today. santa cruz mountains continuing

to get slammed at that point and the only light spot i can bring to you is santa rosa to novato will have a lighter rain period at that point but the whole bay area south of the golden gate bridge getting slammed from about 7:00 to 9:00. that that point we'll see showers slam into the south bay. we'll get a nice break between 1:00 and 3:00 and then on and off enter maintermittent shower throughout the day. you'll be able to get outdoors from time to time saturday afternoon before our stronger system of low pressure moves onshore as we move through sunday. look at how much rain is on the way to the bay area. at 7:00 a.m. another round of heavy rain with little drying out time between systems. so we're expecting more damaging flood reports to come in. also we're expecting more trees and we're going to stay on top of it. i know mike has been checking on your drive every 30 seconds or so just to make sure everything is clear for you. what we can tell you is it's very dangerous out there this

morning. slick conditions. we've got wet leaves all over the place and that just makes for dangerous travel. once the sun comes out it will warm us up. saturday rain at times. periods of rain on sunday and monday. one dry day before we get more rain tuesday into wednesday. laura, back to you. taking a live look outside at the north bay, crews certainly keeping an eye on rivers and streams as the rain continues to come down. we are really right in the thick of this storm. with more rain on the way, weather officials have issued a flash flood watch for much of the bay area's coastline. the weather channel's chris warren joins us now. >> reporter: good morning, laura. it is definitely coming down and has been coming down the past few hours. i've been out here at least three hours and the only thing that's variable is the wind. at times it is very gusty. otherwise it's just wet and windy. we're looking out at the golden gate bridge and we've gn

watching. you see the two towers. every once in a while we'll see the clouds come and sit down. other times we can barely see the lights when the rain really picks up so visibilities go down in a hurry. i drove in a few hours ago so depending on your perspective it was still late night in san francisco. driving in, there was a lot of water on the roads. not very many pulddles, but it was coming down pretty good. for the most part you can see at times when you're driving around, the rain just blowing across the road. so laura, dealing with what looks like and what i'm hearing already a nasty commute. >> yes, it is most certainly. we're just getting reports coming in. thank you very much, chris. from mike there's some problems in downtown san jose. >> all that weather creating some adventures on the road. what's happening? >> you saw behind chris all that rain and the golden gate bridge just barely visible and he's right there at the coast. looking over to san jose, 101 with all the water kicking up, slippery conditions and the volume really picking up. this is 101.

on the maps speeds are dipping down into the 50s. on 87 coming up into downtown very slow all the way into downtown, continuing up to taylor where the earlier accident is still there. that's the one where the car spun around, slammed into the center divide. solo car accident. very common during the wet weather. we're watching over here to 280 where there's a new accident reported 280 at 87. more slowing expected now. these are two major commute spots at san jose. we track those but overall traffic starting to build on a pretty normal build aside from highway 87. there's 101, there's 85 and the green that's colored all over the roadways because of wet roadway conditions. blue is where you find ponding and puddling very likely. here, all of this red on the roadway, that is the backup. folks crawling in through livermore and all the way to the dublin interchange where that big rig still blocks basically all your lanes for 580. the offramp to 680 is your only

avenue off it. you can head north or 680 or south on 680. that's the big log jam. a lot of other folks are cutting down through livermore and pleasanton using 84, the isabel interchange. they're going to be slow through livermore as well. over here approaching the bay bridge and the approach pretty smooth, pretty typical build for the east shore freeway. the wind advisory for the bay bridge itself. let me show you the san mateo bridge in case you decide to use that one. we do have a smooth westbound drive all the way to the peninsula. soupy conditions. and 92 at skyline, the eastbound lanes now reported blocked by a tree that's down there. that could be an issue heading into or especially out of half moon bay. north of the san mateo bridge, oakland looking a little soupy as well. starting to really back up as you're slowing toward high street and into downtown. you're still moving but messy conditions here. the bay bridge, what's wrong with this picture? no lights across the span but the bay bridge is moving. the metering lights are on and so are the streetlights and

they're able to take tolls so no breaks, guys. back to you. >> mike has been showing us the last hour and a half this morning's commute far from typical. all that rain, wind, slick roads and power outage could say make for a longer than normal ride to work. marla tellez is live on highway 101 with what you can expect to see when you head out the door. good morning, marla. >> reporter: good morning. i know mike was just talking about downed trees and backups over in the east bay and livermore specifically, but here on the peninsula in palo alto, none of that right now. you can see the traffic for yourself. the headlights you see, northbound 101 we're right at the university avenue exit, so a very popular exit. but so far no stop and go, no accidents to report here. i shot some cell phone video of our drive as we made our way up here to palo alto from san jose. of course northbound 101. this is what you can expect this morning. it's dark, it's wet, it's slick. be aware of the puddling on the roadways. hydroplaning a very real possibility. miss christina loren tells me that the heaviest period of rain

for the peninsula specifically is 6:00 to 9:00 a.m., so a three-hour window. that is going to make for a very messy commute. i don't think friday light is in the stars for us today. one other thing to keep in mind specific to the peninsula, as you look forward to your afternoon drive home, yep, there is a pac-12 title game happening at stanford. stanford stadium tonight. kickoff between stanford and ucla is scheduled for 5:00 tonight. so you can bet it is going to be a mess, especially through palo alto. 40,000 plus people are expected to descend upon stanford stadium. again, that's at 5:00. stanford officials are warning traffic in the area is going to be heaviest between 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. tonight. and you are encouraged, whether you're heading on the peninsula, on 101 or to stanford stadium to take public transportation. in fact i can tell you that caltrain is running a very special schedule for the game

tonight. live in palo alto, marla tellez, "today in the bay." >> thank you, marla. that will be a soupy pac-12 championship game. >> it sure will. 5:51. we'll be right back with much more.

welcome back, everybody, on a friday morning. a rough go out there. a live look right now of the bay bridge. you can see the traffic lights but no lights on the bridge itself. a power outage right now on the bridge. christina loren telling us pg&e said 16,000 without power all across the bay area. that number will continue to

crow. christina says the storms will get worse before they get better. she'll keep you posted. 5:54. >> be prepared if yours goes out this morning. 5:54 as you mentioned. a sinkhole about the size of four football fields now threatening homes in ohio. take a look at this. massive sinkhole just swallowing up part of a state highway near dover. the highway will remain closed, obviously, until engineers can figure out how to repair it. it could actually take months. officials say there was some dredging going on around the pond and that dredging may have eroded enough of the land away to cause that ground to collapse. but a big problem they're having there. >> a sinkhole? that looks like a lake out there. that is rough. speaking of that, flash flood watches, flooding up in the north bay. >> power outages. >> it's all over the place. christina loren filling us in, telling us the latest, good morning. >> good morning to you. now we're starting to get into the worst part of the storm. look at this radar picture just lit up.

the heftiest rainfall right now is concentrated from san jose all the way north to brentwood and sacramento. look at some of the heavier batches. we've got some strong thunderstorms embedded within the heavy rainfall and those thunderstorms could drive wind gusts upwards of 60 to 70 miles per hour also creating brief heavy downpours and you lose complete visibility if you get stuck under one of those stronger cells. we're going to keep watching that for you. the gusty winds are starting to pick up so we're expecting more storm reports to continue. we stop the clock on your futurecast, 7:00 a.m., bull's eye, the bay area getting slammed with heavy rainfall. we'll continue to track this storm system as it moves onshore. we've got reporters all across the bay area. let's check on the drive. 5:56. rough one, mike. >> it is a very rough one because the rain is obviously an issue and wind as well. but things like the power outages, jon showed you that span, the lights are out across the bay bridge as well as the

richmond-san rafael bridge. here's the toll plaza and you can use fastrak or take your catch. you still have to pay, it's just a darker bridge. we do have accidents, there's a disabled vehicle on the upper deck itself and approaching the area. right now showing you the sig alert. i'm anxious to get to this because we just got an update from officer evans with the california highway patrol. he says caltrans is now in the process of picking up cones and we now see the speeds starting to increase a bit. they'll reopen those lanes west 580. as far as i know, they'll reopen all of those lanes. i've heard nothing otherwise. look at all that big, big backup they have to get to. where it's red, 20 or below all the way through livermore and toward 680. and the blue means puddling and ponding, so that's a dangerous situation. back to you. >> a nice day to be able to stay home, i think, for a lot of folks. even if you are home, power outages affecting many homes across the bay area. we've got our live storm coverage continuing this morning with a live look at the bay bridge. lights are out on it as well, but look at the traffic pouring

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first the one-two punch of back-to-back storms and now we're getting ready for round three. do you know wrur umbrella and flashlight are? we have a live look right now outside at oakland. traffic starting to jam up under all that rain. good morning, everybody, it is 5:59, almost 6:00. thanks for getting up with us on this h2o friday. i'm jon kelley. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. this morning we are watching the weather causing plenty of slipping and sliding on bay area roadways. the golden gate bridge on your left, the bay bridge where the upper deck is actually in the dark due to a power outage. that's a look at the toll lanes there. al